The hotly contested $7 million Royal Automobile Club of WA advertising account has been retained by the incumbent, The Brand Agency, for a further two years.
The hotly contested $7 million Royal Automobile Club of WA advertising account has been retained by the incumbent, The Brand Agency, for a further two years.
The Brand Agency was forced to pitch for the account, which is one of the State’s biggest, against industry heavyweights Marketforce and 303 after the RAC announced it was reviewing its advertising contract last August.
All three agencies presented formal pitches to the RAC in September and have been keenly awaiting this week’s announcement.
The win was a crucial one for The Brand Agency, which has worked on the RAC’s breakdown service account for the past 13 years and the amalgamated breakdown service and insurance advertising account for the past five years.
According to RAC head of marketing Tracy Armson, the company decided to reinstate The Brand Agency because of its zability to manage and understand RAC’s evolving business.
“The Brand Agency also has the capacity to tap in to a level of expertise and knowledge that is not readily available in Perth through its affiliation with the Sydney-based STW group,” Ms Armson said.
“This factor had a significant bearing on our final decision.”
The Brand Agency partner Colin Mackay-Coghill said there was a tremendous amount of relief within the agency and the decision reinforced the strong campaign work it was providing for the RAC.
“It’s a huge win for us,” he said. “We take great pride in the fact that we have a number of large accounts and we look after them really well.
“It’s a relief because we had to go up against two of the best teams in town and who were going to give it a good shake.”
The RAC account is managed full time by six people within The Brand Agency as well as some part-time staff.
The Brand Agency produced new campaign work for the RAC’s roadside assistance in the midst of the review period.
“It’s such a big account that it wasn’t a question of stopping and waiting for the outcome, it was business as usual even while in pitch mode,” Mr Mackay-Coghill said.
He said there would be no immediate changes to the RAC’s advertising strategy and that the Hitchcock theme would remain for some time.
“Hitchcock is working fantastically well,” Mr Mackay-Coghill said.
“There are a number of challenges going forward but in the short term there probably won’t be too much change.”
The Brand Agency’s RAC advertising contract is for two years with options for a further two years.
This was the first competitive review The Brand Agency undertook for the blue-chip account.
QUITE THE DRAMA: The Hitchcock theme will continue to feature in RAC campaigns after The Brand Agency retained the account. Photo: Courtesy The Brand Agency